Since the concept was launched at Hannover earlier this year, Industry 4.0 has been the buzzword on everyone’s lips.
For centralised motion control systems, where drives are controlled from a single centrally-located PC/PLC, a set point must be sent every cycle to the drives connected via a bus network.
The grinding specialist RefreshEng has launched a re-engineered centre-less grinder based on one of the world's most widely-used machines, with the aid of software development support from CNC specialist, NUM.
With Device Level Ring (DLR) functionality now available in its Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 750 and 525 drives, Rockwell Automation can offer its users access to a powerful device-level networking topology that provides a raft of benefits covering time, cost, functionality and ease of use. Jonathan Smith explains the principles and the advantages.
Simon Keogh outlines the thinking behind Siemens' ‘Totally Integrated Automation' (TIA) Portal and highlights recent enhancements for TIA V12 that help illustrate why he believes it is the way forward for manufacturers tackling current and future industrial challenges.